Dont Avoid Me
by Kristen the homicidal maniac
Summary: It was that same game of Ichigo breaking up with Masaya and everyone wanting to date her, except Ryou Shirogane. During this time he was going to ignore her and continue to be her boss. But temptations can be a little hard to avoid, can he avoid her? RXI
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everybody! It's me KTHM! Yeah I know, I died and didn't ever update but I have reasons!... Ok maybe not. I just had a really big writers block. Anyways I have a new story idea and I hope nobody else has anything similar. Lol! If you do, just please send me a personal note and I will take it down as soon as possible! Thank you! Please enjoy! And read and review! I wont update if there isn't more then 2 reviews. Thanks!

**Summary: It was the same game of, Ichigo breaking up with Masaya again. After that, everyone wanted to date Ichigo, except Ryou Shirogane. During this time he was going to mind his own business and just continue to be her boss. But temptations can be a little hard to avoid. How can he avoid her? RXI**

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…_Chapter one Ichiogo's POV…_

I was never very fond of spring mornings, just because they made everything seem so pleasant when things really weren't. I listened quietly to the chatters of people around me. The table I was sitting at was made of wrought iron, and was painted white but you could tell it was chipping off. The chair was the same and it made my butt cold as I sat on it. A bee flew close to my face and I swatted it away, wrinkling my nose, as it got close.

"Ichigo?" I mellow voice called my name and I glanced up, looking at the dark face across the table.

"Yeah Masaya?" I leaned on the table, smiling. He grinned back, but I could tell he was a bit annoyed

"You're listening to me, correct?" He asked, his brown hair lightly ruffling as the breeze blew. _"No." _was on the tip of my tongue but I held it back, playing with the sleeves of my beige colored sweater.

"Uh-huh!" I nodded. To be honest, I wasn't listening to a single damn word Masaya was even saying. I was kind of busy thinking about how I was going to get to work on time. It was getting late and Masaya knew it but he said to meet me at a café about a mile away from my house. "_It's very important, Ichigo! Please come!_" Was all he said on the text message to my cell phone. That was about 20 minutes ago and he was still talking.

"So, I've come to this conclusion." He started to end what he was going to say all along. And even though he didn't tell me what it was, I still knew what was coming.

"Maybe we should, I don't know, end this relationship." He gazed at me, waiting for my reaction. I blinked a few times and gazed at Masaya. I waited a few seconds for the usual words of despair or hatred to come but they didn't. Tilting my head, I opened my mouth then shut it. Nothing.

"Ichigo?" Masaya leaned on the table and took one of my hands in his, "I hope you can understand. And the only reason I think it'd be best for us to take a break is because I'm leaving again." Oh but I did catch that in the conversation. You know how smart this guy is? He's been accepted in like all the right Ivy League colleges everywhere! And the sad thing is he's only a junior in high school. I think he was going to England to study at Oxford. I don't know. I didn't catch the second part.

I finally grinned, standing up. "It's okay Masaya. I understand." I took his hand and shook it.

"Try to keep in touch." I waved and started walking away, my sneakers scraping lightly against the crisp green grass. Masaya started to yell something to me but I turned around and waved again. As soon as I got around the corner from the café I smiled.

I continued smiling and then started giggling. At the moment the whole world seemed to be lifted off my shoulders and I couldn't help but be happy. I laughed to myself and started jogging down the road to Café Mew Mew.

When I got there, Mint, my best friend was just barely getting out of her limo and stepping onto the sidewalk of the café. She looked up at me and smiled, "Why are you so happy?"

I laughed and smiled, "Do I look happy?"

Mint rolled her eyes, "Ecstatic actually."

I was laughing more this time and my cheeks were hot, "I'm so single again!"

Oh how good did it feel to finally be rid of my boyfriend and to be single? It felt satisfyingly awesome! I just hoped though, that I could keep it that way.

_…to be continued…_

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A/N: Yes, I know it's short but it'll get longer! I promise! Ok so I hope this story isn't an overused plotline. If there are any suggestions on how to change the story please don't hesitate to send me a note! Thanks! Oh and you know the drill! Please review! If there are no more then 2 then I won't update. I'm sorry! -KTHM 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: For a while I kind of felt stupid. I didn't exactly think this story through and I didn't really go into much thought about the plot. So it took me a while to think up the next chapter. Then I got sick and recovered. And when I finally started the next chapter, something again happened to me and I really didn't feel like trying. So I'm really sorry for the long update! And thank you all my reviewers!

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…_Chapter two, Ryou's POV…_

I'm not one to eavesdrop or even gossip. I just don't have the time or energy for all that. Not that I ever knew a guy that gossiped, but you never know when you'll come across one. Although for some odd reason I couldn't tune out the sound of Ichigo's voice when I heard her talking. It was annoying, yes but the words that she said I couldn't help but listen to.

It was something stupid, which always seemed to be what Ichigo was talking about. Pulling another weed from the side of the Mew Mew Café, I scooted a little closer to the entrance wall, trying to listen more.

"That's something to be incredibly happy about?" I heard Mint's soft voice ask. I threw the weed into the green waste garbage bag and stood up slightly, peering around the wall at them both. Ichigo pressed her hands to her cheeks and her smile slowly turned into a frown. She lowered her gaze to the sidewalk and shook her head.

"Oh well, I guess not. But I kind of have a bittersweet feeling about this. I mean, it's been a while since I was single and I have this odd, satisfying feeling of being free!" Ichigo grinned slightly, obviously a tad embarrassed to be too happy about breaking up with Mr. _Oh-so-look-at-me-I'm-too-perfect _guy (that's a first). I rolled my eyes the same time Mint did and began to stretch my arms.

I took a second to ponder a great way to tell Ichigo I was writing her up for being late. I cleared my throat and began to do that weird stretch where you twist to one side then the other. An excite-full type feeling escalated in me and I wasn't sure why. Shrugging it off, I turned to walk around the wall but stopped a second.

"Hm, well I don't know why I'm agreeing, but I suppose you're right," Mint replied turning towards the café. I cocked an eyebrow, not expecting her to say that.

"You agree with me?" Ichigo asked, almost to stunned to even move let alone follow her into the café. Mint nodded and I continued to watch her from behind the wall like some crazy stalker (which I am not!). She flipped back her indigo colored hair and grinned slightly.

"Yes, I mean honestly Ichigo, how did you ever think you could compete with Masaya?" That must've hit Ichigo like a rock. She stopped walking and a dumbfounded expression spread across her face quicker then I'd ever seen in my life. She rolled her head so that she was looking over at Mint.

"What?" her voice cracked with a high pitch that made it seem like a scream. I winced and smirked, watching more closely.

Mint laughed and shook her head. That was Mint for you, she never knew when to say something right. Ichigo's face flushed brightly and her eyes narrowed. I chuckled quietly to myself. I loved that expression on Ichigo; it was like a pout slash _"I'm angry but I can't really seem to show it right now"_ lookI paused slightly and wondered, _"When did I ever like anything about Ichigo."_ But I would get into deeper thought about that later.

"Oh Ichigo, we all know you," Mint started and Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at this, "You're a bit clumsy and you're grades and smarts are average." Mint paused a second and I guess this allowed Ichigo to chime in.

"Yeah so? What do you mean I can't compete with Masaya?" Ichigo asked. I scratched my chin, wondering if a catfight was going to break loose and whether or not I should stop them if it did.

"I was getting to that, just face it Ichigo, he's a straight A student going to one of the greatest Ivy League schools in the world. You're not. You deserve someone you don't have to compete with." Mint finished explaining. I somewhat got what she was saying. It must've been hard at times to have to live up to Masaya. Not that they were related but what other people might have thought. Maybe they thought that she was too stupid for Masaya or that he could have done so much better.

Ichigo kind of tilted her head and shrugged, "Oh well, I don't really care anymore. We broke up and now that feeling is gone!" she grinned, as if that was the end of the discussion and started towards the café.

I yawned, "What a waste of perfectly precious time." I reached down and grabbed the green waste bag and swung it over my shoulder. As I began to walk around the wall I almost bumped into someone and quickly took a step back. "Sorry." Was my immediate response but when I noticed whom it was the word caught in my throat.

"Ichigo may have been oblivious enough to not have noticed you, but I'm not," Mint said sternly, a slight stare of annoyance sparking her russet colored eyes, "What were you doing listening in on us?"

I scratched my chin, playful sarcasm glimmering in my voice, "I was pulling weeds when suddenly out of nowhere, I heard the sound! It was the sound of Ichigo complaining to her best friend! Ahh! Oh no!" I snickered at my own wittiness but Mint seemed to be less than impressed, let alone amused.

She pointed her manicured finger at me, kind of close to my face, "I'm not impressed." "_I know"_ was on the tip of my tongue but Mint went on, "You're an eavesdropper and a weirdo and you wanted to know what was up with Ichigo."

That whole assumption made me want to take it, crumble it in a big ball, and set it on fire. I almost gagged when I heard it but I winced instead and took another step back. "Please," I started, "don't ever say that again." I was going to need a shower after that one.

"Why?" Mint glared more, "You know it's true!" This made me wonder if Mint knew me at all after all those precious, precious years. I shook my head, paused, and then shook it again.

"None of that is true. Trust me." I adjusted the bag on my shoulder, its weight starting to bother me. Mint stared at me and laughed slightly, "So why were you listening? You're not one to eavesdrop."

I laughed on the inside; I would never doubt that Mint didn't know me again. I shrugged the best I could, "Ichigo's voice is so irritating that the only way to ignore her was to just listen." I didn't even get what I just said.

"Hm well, so you heard about Ichigo breaking up with Aoyama?" Mint looked towards the café, making sure Ichigo was in. I nodded, oh how would I miss that?

"And how come she was so happy with it?" I asked, I heard them but I felt like I had to ask a question.

Mint looked back at me and shrugged a bit, "She never quite said, just now that she felt free." That must've been a chick thing.

"Wow." I remarked. Mint nodded and turned towards the café then looked back at me, smirking.

"You're going to ask her out, huh?"

I was so taken aback about the question I almost stumbled backwards. I gaped at Mint with absolute horror and disgust. Okay, scratch that, I would _always _doubt that Mint ever knew me. I stuttered loudly, "W-what?"

Mint laughed, "Now that Ichigo isn't with Masaya, everyone is going to want her! I wouldn't even be surprised if Kish showed up again. But how could you blame him? After all, she is cute, clumsy, sweet, and funny. Everything you can't compete with, and everything you need, Ryou." My stomach practically churned and I swallowed to keep down anything that was planning on coming up.

Inhaling deeply through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I leisurely set down the trash bag. I rolled my shoulders and slowly looked up at Mint, "Why would you even consider saying that?"

Mint laughed again, obviously loving this, "Over the years Ryou you can tell that you have always had a little something for Ichigo. Dwell on it. But hurry!" she wiggled her fingers and waved both her hands in _"poof"-_ing motion, "Or she'll be taken before you know it."

Mint turned towards the café and started to walk to it. A weird taste in my mouth made me grimace and I got the heebie-jeebies. Shaking it off, I picked up the bag and began to drag it to the trashcan. After a few moments I rubbed my temples, trying to release the pressure of an oncoming headache. If I was going to be attracted to Ichigo when I didn't like her, I was going to have to avoid her right?

Maybe then I could just ignore her? I would have to think on this more.

If it was one thing I had just figured out though, I had just figured out my reason why to write up Mint. Now I just had to figure out how come I had to write up Ichigo. And how I was going to avoid her.

…_to be continued…_

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A/N: Sorry again guys if you read the top authors note. Finals are coming up so as soon as I get pass those I'll be updating more. Thanks and please read and review! I'm seriously trying! Please forgive me! And sorry about the short chapter. TT-TT 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm back.

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMM. Or Neil Young.

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_...Ichigo's POV..._

I had to be honest with myself. After a few hours of feeling totally single, I began to wonder how come I hadn't thought of doing something so incredibly free feeling before? What had held me back from finally confessing that I was no longer in love with Masaya? Why was I stuck in something that no longer held the same feelings it did in the beginning? I wondered all this while watching Pudding stack plates in the chilled fridge. I kept staring at her as I scrubbed a plate, moving my hand in a continuous circle, over and over and over again.

She stacked the last plate and turned to me, waiting for me to finish with the next batch of clean dishes. I didn't blink for a minute and when I finally snapped out of my trance, Pudding was waving her hand in my face.

"Hell_ooo_?" she sang, eyeballing me. I blinked a few times then grinned.

"Sorry," I replied, handing her the stack of dishes that were finished.

"You're out of it. Whats the matter?" she asked, hopping up on a stool to put the dishes on a higher rack in the fridge.

"You didn't hear?" Mint's voice chimed in from the entrance to the kitchen. Pudding and I looked at her as she sat down on a stool near the oven, her dark hair bouncing off her shoulders as she delicately slipped one leg over the other, "Ichigo and Masaya broke up."

"Whoa," Pudding looked at me and snickered, "Didn't see that coming."

"What do you mean?" I asked, sensing her sarcasm.

Pudding shrugged her small shoulders and turned back to stacking the plates, "It's just, you both haven't been really _in love_ for a while, it seems."

And she was right. It was like after we entered our sophomore year of high school, the magic just sort of began to disappear. But we stayed together for a year anyways. The feelings were mutual but we did what ever every other couple did. Kissed sometimes, held hands, some PDA, a night alone, but it all started to become like something you do on a schedule. Something you sort of _had_ to do. I had to kiss his cheek when we stopped to exchange words in the hallways or I had to hold his hand when we were walking together or I had to call him some mushy pet name when talking on the phone. All involuntary, almost a reaction, probably something we both didn't want to do. And it wasn't just him or I that noticed our 'no- longer-in-love-relationship' relationship, it was my friends. They saw it too. Which in some ways, made it even worse.

Embarrassed, I asked, "How long ago did you notice?"

Pudding looked back at me and squinted her brown eyes as she thought, "Uhm," she tapped her chin, "I dunno, like maybe five or six months ago."

"Ah," Mint nodded her head, "I thought I saw some fickle feelings around that time too."

So mid Junior year they finally noticed? I wouldn't have been so surprised though. That was probably when we were both beginning to wind down more. Hiding my true feelings all through our sophomore year was a breeze, I guess I couldn't take it so much during the holidays this year.

I let out a gush of air as I exhaled. Mint stood back up from the stool and adjusted the apron around her waist, "Well it's over now so I guess you don't have to worry," she smiled, "Worry about Masaya again that is."

Pudding looked at Mint with an expression of pure confusion, which I could only follow up with as we both stared at the dark haired beauty. She smiled innocently in return and shrugged her shoulders as if she knew nothing. But she did. Mint always knew something. She was scandalous that way and I guess that's what I loved about her as my best friend. But it always left everyone in the dark. You could see Mint plotting something behind her big, dark eyes, a secret she wouldn't let anyone else on.

"Mint," I began and narrowed my eyes, "what are you talking about?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled wickedly, "Ichigo, we all know that since Masaya is out of the picture now, there will be more boys lining up at your door."

I was honestly dumbfounded by what she had said and it took a moment to register. I liked being single. The fact that she was mentioning new boys a few hours after the break up with Masaya made me feel way less happy about the whole thing. But that was Mint for you, always something new in her iniquitous little mind. Pudding laughed at this statement, rolling her brown eyes before walking out into the main café area to do some sweeping I doubt would actually get done.

Mint glowered at Pudding as she left and turned her attention back to me.

"I don't want another relationship," I replied in a matter-of-fact way.

"Not now you don't." She held up her forefinger like she was going to scold me.

"Not ever. I mean it," I took out the plug from the sink to let the water drain, "It was a long, long ride with Masaya. Almost six years. A lot of people would be married if they dated that long."

"It was on and off dating with him and you know it," Mint crossed her arms over her chest, "Look, all I'm saying is that you haven't had feelings for the guy for a year, maybe you should consider dating somebody you like. And who's also good for you and you don't have to compete with."

"I don't know what's up with you and this competing thing," I said as I wiped my hands on a towel, "but I really don't want to start up a relationship again."

Mint opened her mouth to protest but I interrupted, "Seriously Mint. It feels good to not have to worry about boyfriends and the trouble that they bring. I really want to stay single for a while."

She seemed alright with my answer but I could still see that she was unsatisfied with it and would probably bring up the subject later to pick on me about. I grinned at her and left the kitchen to join Pudding and Lettuce in putting down the chairs for the tables.

Pudding was talking to Lettuce quietly when I stepped up to the table they were arranging the chairs around. Lettuce looked at me and smiled shyly before lowering her gaze to the floor. Her emerald hair fell in waves across her back while two braided strands tied across her head in the back. She looked really pretty and I smiled, "Lettuce your hair looks different today. What's the occasion?"

"Oh," she blinked a few times, something she had been doing often since she had exchanged her old wire thin glasses for contacts, "No occasion. I felt like doing something different. D-Does it look alright?"

"You look very pretty," I complimented with a wide smile as I took down another chair from the table and arranged it nicely.

Lettuce beamed at this and turned to Pudding, "You're right. She is really happy since she broke up with Masaya."

"Word travels fast," I eyed Pudding, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"You're not sad at all?" Lettuce asked, concern dripping in her small voice.

"No," I answered and whirled around to the next table, only to find myself staring at the neck of my blond haired, blue eyed boss. I looked up, being a head smaller wasn't exactly fortunate and glowered playful at him, "Do you mind?"

"You were late this morning," He stated, hand ruffling my already messy hair.

I slapped his hand away. How old did he think I was? Four?

Smoothing out my hair I answered, "No I was right on time. I had to come from some place important."

"Like?" He interrogated. Why was he all of a sudden so question-y?

I made a "Humph" noise and twirled away from him to a different table to take down chairs only to realize the entire café was completely finished and ready for opening. I turned back to my boss who was staring at me with raised eyebrows and an annoyed look, "None of you business," I sang.

"You wont be saying that when I write you up for being late," He grinned wickedly.

"You wouldn't," I narrowed my eyes, hands on my hips.

"I would," He smiled bigger.

"I sense flirting," My annoying best friend sang from a few tables away, a cup of tea she had made earlier delicately resting in her hands. Pudding and Lettuce laughed loudly at this. My only response was the involuntary feeling of my cheeks reddening and the glare I shot Mint so quickly that even Lettuce and Pudding silenced their laughs.

Ryou was gone when I turned back to him. I did a complete 360 spin only to find him walking the complete opposite way of me past the kitchen and towards to where the back rooms were. I watched him go before turning my attention to my companions, "You guys," I whined, "I think he's really going to write me up now."

"Oh phoo," Mint scolded, "he wont write you up."

"How do you know?"

"Because," she laughed into her cup of tea, "he likes you."

Earlier in the day I seriously thought I was going to throw up at what Mint had said. As my feet scraped across the cement sidewalk, I could only feel my body dragging as I slowly made my way back home. With my eyes feeling heavy, I couldn't wait to fling myself onto my bed and sleep the day was over. I was totally content this morning after the break up, trust me, I couldn't make it any clearer to the world that I was totally fine with not being in a relationship with my almost six years boyfriend. But then there was Mint, who pushed everything on me with her ridiculous schemes and stupid "Ryou likes you" talk.

I sighed loudly as I trudged up to my house and flung open the front door. There was silence and I figured my parents were out and about which gave the perfect opportunity to sleep until they got back. I made my way up the stairs to my room and shut the door quietly behind me. Turning around I was surprised to see a young man sprawled out on my bed as if he owned the thing. I was so surprised that when his familiar devilish smile broke out across his face, all I could do was scream so loud that the windows of my room shook.

A few seconds ticked by and my alien friend Kish looked at me as he rubbed his long ears, hidden behind his locks of green hair, "Um. Ow." He said, his eyes squinted in a wince of pain. I felt my lungs heave as I took in air and I pressed my hand against my chest, my other hand against the door of my room.

"Not. Funny. Kish." I inhaled and exhaled heavily as I shot daggers at his head. He rubbed his ears again and mumbled something like, "Tell my about it." But I didn't catch it because I was too busy trying to fix my composure. After a minute when I felt better, I turned back to him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Why?" he smiled deviously and stretched his arms behind his head as he relaxed more on my bed.

I smacked my hand against my forehead and sighed, "Because this is my room. Not to mention you haven't been here to visit for a while now. I think about a month." I eyed him and he took it as a compliment and started to flex his arms. I ignored this.

"Yeah I know but word travels fast," he grinned and sat up on my bed, his legs crossed Indian style.

"Let me guess," I tapped my forefinger against my chin, "you found out that I broke up with Masaya?"

He nodded with a ton of enthusiasm.

I sighed. Mint wasn't lying when she said there would be boys lining up at my door. Or breaking into my house. I paused then shook my head. _"Kish does that all the time anyways."_ Never mind.

"Kish," I began with another huffy sigh, "I'm not really in the mood to explai-"

"Sh, sh, sh." He stood up from my bed and strolled towards me, "You don't have to explain anything."

"What are you talking about?" I droned and began to back up.

He kept walking forward and I kept walking back until I hit the corner of my wall. Finally he was way too close for comfort and I had to spread my hands out in front of me to stop him from coming any closer.

"I know you've missed me Ichigo," his chest pressed against my hands as he popped my personal space bubble.

"Oh this is ridiculous," I complained and slipped around him, "Seriously Kish, I'm not in the mood for this."

He looked like a hit puppy, but I kept my eyes level with him and said, "Who told you about Masaya?"

"It's not like my planet has no way of communication with Earth," He stated.

"That's not what I asked," I placed my hands on my hips, "_who_ told you?"

Kish looked reluctant to answer and avoided looking at me but I held my ground and eventually, he looked and mumbled with a pouting expression, "That blond haired boss of yours."

"Ryou?" I questioned.

"Yeah," Kish bounced a little before he started to levitate in the air.

"Why would he tell you?" I pondered aloud.

Kish shrugged and smiled wickedly again, "But I teleported here the second I found out."

And then he was behind me, running his hands over my shoulders. I danced away from his touch and scratched my chin, wondering why my boss would actually have the nerve to gossip to anyone, Kish especially, about my break up. It seemed strange, considering Ryou was a little on the antisocial side. It wasn't quite in his character for him to do something like that. Then I was curious as to how he found out about Masaya and I. I certainly didn't tell him. And I was sure Lettuce or Pudding didn't tell him. Mint would've been a possibility though.

"She is such a big mouth," I grumbled loudly as I turned to Kish. He was in a crouching position on the floor with the same expression of a lion preparing to catch the fastest gazelle.

"Kish, you're annoying. Why are you here?" I stared at him and he stared back.

"To finally get the girl of my dreams?" It sounded more like a question then a statement.

I rubbed my forehead and sat down on my bed, "You've been barking up that tree for six years."

"Yeah, and now I can finally catch the squirrel." He smiled a twisted sort of smile.

I didn't get it.

"Kish I'm not going to start dating again for a while," I pointed out, "I don't want a boyfriend."

He wiggled his eyebrows, something he had taken to doing often, "Doesn't mean I'll stop chasing you."

"You're a little bit of a pervert, aren't you?"

"It took you that long to notice?"

By the time Kish had left back to his planet, I was on a wonder spree about the entire Ryou thing. If Mint was right about my boss liking me, which in every way possible made me want wretch and for the record I didn't believe for a second but for hypothetical reasons, then why had he told Kish? Obviously my little alien friend would appear in my room and hassle me about the whole thing, then to once again, hit on me. Did Ryou know that? Is that why he told Kish? And why was Kish so reluctant to answer me in the beginning that it was Ryou who told him?

They were a bunch of questions that when answered, only led to more questions. I laid on my bed, face shoved into my feather filled pillow, the soft sound of the radio drifting in and out of frequency in the air. I could faintly hear the strum of Neil Young's guitar in the beginning of the song 'Old Man' before my eyelids began to feel heavy.

_"So many questions,"_ I thought and inhaled deeply the smell of my pillow. How come breaking up with Masaya led to so much? It was like for some reason I wasn't allowed to be content with being totally single. Mint was making it a big deal. My friends thought it was funny. Kish was...well Kish was doing the usual so forget it but still. I whined in my head.

_"It'll pass,"_ I reassured myself, _"It's just because it's a new change. This'll pass."_ The beginning of the chorus played quietly in my head and I mouthed the words before I fell into the quietest slumber.

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A/N: Yeah ya'll. So I'm back. I recently updated another story after my two year break and figured I'd better start on updating the others. So here it is. I'm just getting into the swing of updating again and I haven't written any of my TMM stories in a while so I apologize if everyone is a little OOC.

I also apologize for waiting so long to actually update. Everything on fan fic is really different from what I remember so please give me a break if I'm missing anything.

This story is taking a little bit of a different spin then I expected but I promise I'll be getting the show on the road with it asap. So feel free to drop a comment or a little feedback. :] Thanks. Till next time-KTHM


	4. Chapter 4

Thank goodness for translation websites.

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_...Ryou's POV..._

I like to keep to myself really. Gossip, ravings, and overall any random talk that has nothing to do with anything but just gaga over someone else's misfortune honestly has never really interested me. But in this case, as I saw my dear employees hassle the poor strawberry girl, I felt a sort of pity-I think- for her. And then just an ounce of guilt. Since her little break up less than a week earlier, everyone, and I mean _everyone_ in the Mew Mew café had some sort of input or interest in Ichigo's current love life. What was she going to do? Was she going to start looking again? Was she really going to remain single for a while? Questions like that floated between the four girls. Because Ichigo had dated Masaya for so long, it must've seemed so strange that Ichigo was now officially single. Crossing my arms over my chest, I stared at Mint handing the red headed girl a card that I'm sure she had no interest in taking.

"Take it," Mint urged, pressing the white card against Ichigo's arm.

Ichigo snubbed her best friend and shrugged the card away, "I don't want it Mint, leave me alone." She gripped the broom in her hands a little tighter, which made me a bit concerned for my colleague. It wouldn't been the first time someone swung a broom at Mint. Or Pudding. Or even myself. I snickered at the memories but continued to observe the situation along with everyone else.

"Now ladies," Keiichiro eased, holding up his hands defensively, "maybe we should step away from the cleaning utensils. Ichigo, we don't want another mishap like before, do we?"

Ichigo ignored Keiichiro and glowered at Mint.

"He's a great guy and he wants to take you out," Mint pressed, her eyebrows raising as she waved the card, "You're not getting married to the guy, it's just a date."

A date. A date with _another_ great guy like the last three. I had to wonder if Mint even knew a great guy. Because of all the people she could have dragged into my restaurant, each "great guy" had a very big problem.

Great guy number one came in the day after the whole situation began. Ichigo was far from interested but definitely on the distraught level on why Mint had even decided to bring the him in. It wasn't that he wore a suit, or had his dark hair combed back, or that he had an unlit cigarette behind his ear for later use I think that got Ichigo. It was that he wasn't seventeen, or eighteen, or even nineteen. Great guy numero uno was swimming in his early thirties. He was older than Keiichiro and myself, which really threw probably everyone off. Except for Mint and her companion.

"You're joking right?" Ichigo's mouth dropped open as she stared at her so-called "date".

"Look, he's really wonderful. He's rich, successful, funny, and a little brooding. Which is _sexy_!" Mint gushed to her best friend as we made our way to the back room to keep the conversation private. The date didn't seem to mind and stood out by the entrance, talking on his cellphone to whoever.

"Mint," Ichigo's eyes widened, "He's two times older me!"

"The age difference isn't _that_ bad," Mint responded as if it were nothing.

"Ichigo is right," Zakuro nodded, "this man is old enough to be her father."

"Not nearly," Mint scoffed.

"He's old enough to be _my_ dad," Pudding inputted, her blond curls bouncing as she rocked up on her tippy toes, "In fact, they're probably the same age."

"And that's not right," Lettuce blinked several times like always now, "Ichigo is sixteen going on seventeen in a month, she doesn't need this. The age difference is way too big."

And the argument went like that for a while until Mint was forced to give up and send her dateless friend home. The next day passed quietly and things started to seem like they were going to settle down and old times were going to go back to the way they were but we were wrong. Mint showed up the day after that with a guy her age, and seemingly the perfect candidate to be Ichigo's new _beau_. Or so I thought.

Great guy two wore black slacks and a white t-shirt and looked pretty normal. Or at least that was what it seemed with the three second glance I got at him. Mint escorted him in quickly and straight into the kitchen where Ichigo had been washing dishes. Lettuce, Zakuro, and I all looked at each other in confusion and made our way to the kitchen door entrance.

"Ichigo," We peered in through the little circular window on the door and saw Mint hold up her hand to the young man, "this is Alexandre Jacques. He's from France."

Ichigo sat on a stool, one leg crossed over the other and a dripping wet plate in her hand as she stared at her friend and candidate number two. Pudding was in the kitchen as well, drying the plates that were wet. The young girl had the same expression her face as Ichigo, a mixture of raw agitated confusion. Ichigo stared for a minute and stood up, putting the dish back in the sink. Since she was basically stuck in the kitchen, with Mint and Alexandre Jacques blocking the door, she clearly forced herself to spout out a, "How do you do?"

"_Bonjour_," he cooed back, taking Ichigo's hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles, "_Comment __Ça va?_"

Lettuce's face lit up like a light bulb and she took a step away from the door, "Oh w-we shouldn't be watching this." She pressed her hands to her red cheeks.

"It's not like it's anything bad," Zakuro responded.

I heard Pudding giggle and looked back through the window to catch Ichigo's embarrassed grin, "Uh," she looked at Mint, "what?"

Mint smiled, "He asked, how do you do?"

Ichigo obviously took humor in this and smiled, "I'm fine thanks. Mint," Ichigo looked at the guy and talked from the side of her mouth, "why is he here?"

"Oh, well, see," Mint started, pressing her hands together, "he came down from France with his father who is a friend of my mother's. And he just recently broke up with his girlfriend back in France and he wanted to meet some nice girls here. So I told him that he can meet you! Isn't this fantastic?"

Mint laughed and Ichigo made some sort of a fake 'ha ha' and looked at her friend, "Mint, I'm not going out with anyone."

"Ichigo!" Mint scolded with a glare, "He came from France!_ France!_ That is like six thousand miles away. And he is here to take you out to lunch. You are going to go and have an amazing time!"

Ichigo looked at her Mint-forced date and said, "No. _Merci_." she flashed him a toothy smile and turned back to her stool to start washing dishes again. Pudding followed and took another dish and started drying them.

Alexandre Jacques looked at Mint, who looked like she was about to blow up and asked in French a question I didn't understand. But I was sure he asked something like, "She doesn't want to go on a date with me?"

Later that day Ichigo told me as we closed up the café that there would've bee a huge language barrier between them both. Without Mint there to translate, she would have had no idea what Mr. Alexandre Jacques was saying. And a date isn't a date with your best friend there tagging along.

"And besides," she added, "I don't want to date anyone right now."

"No one?" I pressed with a smug smile.

"Okay maybe Christian Bale," she laughed, "But I'm sure his wife would have a problem with it."

I grinned.

The day after that made Ichigo a little angry. The first two guys were enough and you could tell that Ichigo was getting frustrated as Mint kept bringing in new guys. But as soon as guy number three walked through the door, a few people knew what was up. Mint stood there, exchanging names between Ichigo and the guy. He looked at Ichigo and Ichigo looked back, a very quiet staring contest in the making.

"Hi," Ichigo greeted after a very awkward silence.

"Hello," number three mumbled.

"Well um, I'll let you guys get to know each other." Mint took a few steps away towards a table with a couple who had just arrived, "I'll take some orders." she told me with a wink.

I didn't get why Mint had brought in the guy. It wasn't impossible to say that the guy Mint had brought in might not have been interested in girls. I didn't notice it at first honestly. He wasn't dressed different than any other guy really, his voice was mellow and soft, but something sort of gave off this vibe that maybe, _just maybe_ he wasn't interested in dating Ichigo. And every person in the restaurant who was working at the time; Zakuro, Lettuce, Mint and myself all stared at the two.

Ichigo spoke very quietly to the guy and he spoke very softly back. Their voices were so low that nobody could hear what they were saying. It wasn't until Zakuro had said something that I caught on and understood why maybe the guy didn't want to date my employee.

"I know him," I heard Zakuro say from behind me after a minute.

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

"He's in my modeling agency," she stood next to me, watching the couple.

"Well if Ichigo goes out with him, maybe she can get into modeling," I mused.

"He doesn't like girls," Zakuro said bluntly.

And there it was. It hit me like a rock and I had to force myself from saying, "Oh_hhh_!"

And I think Ichigo knew that from the start so instead of a date, Ichigo willingly went with him to humor Mint on a mutual friendship lunch. But that was it.

Now Mint pressed the card of another boy's phone number against Ichigo's arm, trying to get her to at least take it so she would know it was him when he'd call later.

But Ichigo was ready to lash out at her friend, anger reddening her cheeks.

"Mint!" Ichigo exploded, making everyone's eyebrows raise, "Let it drop already!"

"Ichigo I am doing you a favor," Mint stomped her foot against the café's tiled floor.

"A favor is setting me up on dates with weird guys when you know how I feel about it?" Ichigo replied.

"You'll appreciate it later," Mint flicked the card at Ichigo, "Trust me."

Ichigo caught the card as it floated towards her chest and sighed loudly, "This is ridiculous."

And it was, I would say that much. I was getting sick and tired of all the new guys that were traipsing through the restaurant, "I agree with Ichigo," I piped in after a little bit.

"You do?" Ichigo looked hopeful and Mint grew a smug expression.

"Yeah, this is a restaurant Mint, not a dating service. Take is somewhere else," I waved my hand towards the exit of the café.

Ichigo groaned and Mint laughed.

"You don't want to see all the guys I have to offer Ichigo, Ryou?" Mint asked slyly.

"No," I replied and shrugged, turning around to leave to my room.

I was trying to keep up with my 'avoiding Ichigo' plans honestly. I had even helped Kish out a little bit by mentioning through space frequencies that the girl he had been chasing after for years was finally free pickings. He replied with a "Thank you!" and I got the angry Ichigo the next morning asking if it was me who told Kish about the break up. I danced around the question and it hadn't been brought up since. I couldn't waste my time with their 'finding Ichigo a good guy' antics and with Kish back around, I would be seeing less and less of the strawberry girl.

I had to keep managing the café and, uh, keep studying the kirema anima activity in case anything ever came back up, and those kinds of (useless) plans. Why would I have wanted to watch Ichigo find a boyfriend anyways? She just broke up with Aoyama. I'm sure the last thing she ever wanted was to start looking all over again.

As it was, I really did want to stay away from Ichigo for a while. Since the day of the break up, Mint had been making accusations that I liked Ichigo. I didn't really want this to start being exploited, because no matter what she said, I didn't like Ichigo like that. Who knew what the accusations would've led to? Working with a bunch of girls was like working for the drama department, and I knew with some sort of 'Ryou likes Ichigo' talk started, a big brouhaha would break out.

That was the last thing I needed nor wanted. So I kept contact with Ichigo to a minimum when alone and even when everyone was working. There had been little times in the past couple of days that I actually talked to Ichigo one on one or even stood next to her alone. It was out of the way of course, considering through the years Ichigo and I had developed a pretty good relationship that I think we both enjoyed, but I figured it was for the best for a few weeks until everything settled back down.

I walked up the stairs on the side of the café and opened the door to my room. The door opened with a quiet, _"whoosh!" _Straight across from my door, I stared at the sun dripping in through my window. There was silence and I stepped inside, my shoes scraping softly against the carpet.

My room after all the years of being with the Mew Mew team had slowly started to turn from the bareness that it originally was, to taking a bit of color and life. I wasn't in my room all the time. In fact I was only ever in my room when I was studying, sleeping, and hanging out with Ichigo. She was the one who had suggested I paint it some other color than the white it was and in the end after getting sick and tired of looking at the bare walls, took the liberty of sprucing up my room.

The walls were now painted a faint blue with three bright orange horizontal lines going around the entire space, only stopping when they hit my door. On the wall near my computer hung a board with a collage of pictures and snap shots that Ichigo made. I had looked at the board of pictures every time I entered my room and smiled when I remembered the moments someones camera had captured them.

Along with the board, hung random posters of photo shopped images of the Mew Mew team, Tokyo Mew Mew in action poses from some earlier years. All of them were worth laughing at but instead of taking them down, I kept them on the walls and laughed at them when I was in the mood.

Ichigo had also hung some matching curtains on my window, threw some strawberry scented candles on my desk, and added in a little side table which I now used as a TV stand for whenever I felt the need to watch movies. The room wasn't used that often but it did hold some meaning and memories which made it in some way special.

I crossed my arms as I looked at the board of pictures and rolled my eyes at all the random photos.

"That one," a hand appeared from behind my head and tapped a picture just over my shoulder, "is my favorite."

I didn't hesitate to whip around and grab the person by her shoulders, "Ichigo," I growled, "why?"

She looked surprised and her brown eyes widened, "Did I finally scare you?"

"Why do you do that every time?" I sighed, aggravated.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed and she smiled, "I knew it! I did scare you!"

"Did you follow me up here?"

"Who knew the day would come when I would finally get you," she laughed and patted her hand against my chest.

My heart skipped a beat.

_"What was that?"_

Letting go of her shoulders I sighed again and smirked, "Yeah you got me this time."

"Anyways I've been meaning to talk to you," she looked serious now.

"About what?"

"Well," she glanced around the room then spotted the candles, "hey, you still have these candles?"

I was starting to wonder if maybe Ichigo was hanging around Pudding a little too much. I didn't want to think that her recent attention disorder was caused by anything other than our small, overly hyper friend.

"Yeah, they smell nice," I answered. It was the only reason I could remember keeping them for.

"You've never lit them though. Let's lite them," she dug through one of the side drawers on my computer desk and pulled out a box of matches. That really showed how often Ichigo was in my room. She struck the match on the book and lit one of the two candles. Waving out the flame, she said, "Okay now where were we?"

"You wanted to talk about something," I sat on my bed, "what is it? Can you make it quick?"

"Yeah well," she untied the apron from her waste, "I'm sorry about Mint."

Folding the apron over her arms, she looked so much different then she had when I first met her. It wasn't hard to notice how she had changed over the years. Everyone looked different then the posters on my wall. But for some reason as I glanced from the old pictures on the picture board over Ichigo's shoulder of her when we first had a Mew Mew team outing five years earlier, to her standing in front of me now, everything was more defined. More different. More beautiful.

Dark, long red hair fell past her shoulders and down her back but flipped outward around her neck. And her light brown eyes had narrowed faintly with age. And then there was her stance. It wasn't hard to see from anyone's point of view that she held herself better. Looking at her made me wonder how come it took so long to really, _really_ notice it from before.

"Don't be," I replied, "it's not like it's you bringing in all these random guys."

She sat down next to me on my bed and tapped her fingers against her legs, "Hm, yeah. I really wish she'd cut it out. Considering it's just not the right time for me to be looking."

"You've told her though," I mentioned.

"Yeah well that's Mint for you. She's scandalous." Ichigo laughed, "I never know what she's plotting in her little mind." Ichigo tapped the top of her head then removed the hat to her uniform.

I smiled, "You're right about that."

"Anyways, I just wanted to say sorry for her because she thinks what she's doing is good for me and probably will never apologize about it."

"It's fine, I've been trying to busy myself anyways so I'll be out of your guy's way for a while."

"Ryou?"

I looked over at Ichigo and set her hand on my shoulder. Leaning close, she gently pecked my lips with hers.

Then my mind went into a jumble and the room started to spin.

"You're my best guy friend Ryou," Ichigo laughed and patted my shoulder, "You're always fun to talk to. Ever since we were kids. That was a friendship kiss. A-Anyways," I felt her get up from the bed as my mind kept spinning, "I'll see you in uh, a few days when it's my shift. Bye."

And then the door shut. I fell back onto my bed and shut my eyes, covering them with my arm, "That's it. That girl is fired."

After a little bit when my mind cleared, I wondered what had brought that on so suddenly. And the feelings after the kiss were so overwhelming that I couldn't even control my thoughts. It was like some form of being high. I didn't like to think that I might be developing something for Ichigo. Not for a second did I like to think that.

Ichigo to me, was always the unobtainable girl. While there were boys who had dated Zakuro and Mint and Lettuce, they came and they went. But Ichigo was the girl who always had Masaya right next to her, her fingers delicately laced between his. I may have snuck a glance at her once, maybe twice in all the years I knew her but I never really thought about ever being _with_ her. It was because she held that **taken** status for so long that whenever Mint would say something about _me_ liking _her_, I would think that I should gag, pretend to be disgusted, or wretch because it would be so gross to want the girl who was already happily in love. And along the way, I thought I should be disgusted with myself for ever having the thought cross my mind.

And now, I felt like a robot, programmed to forever have the love-hate relationship I had with Ichigo. To waltz around her but never ask to dance. Maybe that was what made me so bitter. I didn't know. Even if she felt nothing in her "friendship kiss" I couldn't deny that I did. My head spun. She made my head spin, and that was a first for a lot things. And now here I was, thinking about her and trying to work around the feelings.

_"This is impossible,"_ I thought with a groan, _"I can't go through this now."_

I sat up, "If I don't want to like her, then I don't have to." I said to myself. It was that simple.

I looked at my hands and involuntarily started to tap my fingers against one another, something I did when I was anxious or nervous. That wasn't necessarily good but on the other hand it wasn't bad. I ignored the tapping then glanced up and around to distract myself. I stared at the picture board and scanned over the pictures, looking for the one from earlier.

_"This one is my favorite," _I vaguely remember Ichigo saying when she first slipped the picture onto the board a few months earlier, pinning it down with a thumbtack. It was a recent picture and I didn't know why she had decided it was her favorite picture because it was just of her and I.

Zakuro had taken it on accident really. When trying to figure out how to work the new camera her agency got her, she held it up to Ichigo and I and snapped a really disturbing picture of us both. I was facing Ichigo and was in mid blink, looking kind of droopy and out of it, while resting my arm against the park table we sat at, my cheek leaning up against the palm of my hand. Ichigo was to my right, both hands on top of the table as she started to get up from the bench, her mouth open and her expression not quite right as she made some remark after I had said she should go play with the birds so her cat DNA would kick back in.

Zakuro printed it out after that, laughing hysterically at the damage she had made. It was the first time in a long time I had seen Zakuro laugh so hard and the first time Ichigo had turned so red at just a picture. So she stole it away from Zakuro and pinned it on my wall instead.

_"Our secret,"_ she whispered with a wink. Later on I thought that the secret was pretty ridiculous because whoever walked into my room would know that Ichigo stole the picture and pinned in on my wall. I stood up from my bed and walked to the board. Unpinning it, I took the picture and slipped it into my back pocket.

"There," I said.

My secret.

Just like everything else, and everything that happened today, it was my secret.

* * *

A/N: Just trying to work out the kinks. Everything will fall into place eventually. Anyone up for nachos? Thank you my reviewers. You all make me smile.

So here it is, their first kiss. No one can tell me they never had a friendship kiss. It's like a family kiss, or a parent kiss. Kind of mutual, innocent feeling sort of kiss.

Anyways, if anything seemed a little off I apologize. I went over this a few times and worked out a lot of details. Till next time- KTHM


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